The Catwoman Conundrum
by werevampwolf
Summary: The first times that Catwoman met the Bat-kids. Lots of adorable fluff, with a few small hints of angst.
1. Dick

Author's note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. I have a Late Night Occurrences update scheduled for Wednesday, but I wanted to get this out there first. Thanks to a-really-angry-sorceress for the beta, you should go read her stuff too.

Robin protects Batman. Dick had vowed that after Batman had promised Robin he would always protect him. Bruce had ruffled his hair and told him that he didn't doubt it one bit, then Alfred had told them fondly to change out of their costumes and come upstairs for some hot cocoa. Dick had raced upstairs to help Alfred, forgetting to remove his mask in the process, causing both men to laugh. It was the first time Dick had made Bruce properly laugh while he was wearing the cowl, and was one of his favourite memories.

But despite the light hearted tone that made the memory so precious to him, he still took his vow completely seriously.

So when Batman ordered him to check on the curator of a museum whose silent alarm had sounded while he checked on the valuable artifacts, Dick had done what he asked, despite his fears of letting Batman go and face an unknown threat alone. Dick hurried to find the woman's office, desperate to get back to his partner, anxious after having been ordered to split up. He soon realised, when he found two women in the office, that he should have spent a little more time worrying about himself being alone.

Dick had crashed through the doors without clearing the room properly first, so the element of surprise was a long distant memory at that point. However, the curator did seem frozen with shock, or perhaps she was just tied too tightly to her chair to move at all. The masked woman just seemed completely disbelieving of the small figure in front of her, staring as if she were sure he was a trick of the light, going to disappear if anyone moved.

"Who are you?" she asked, regaining her composure, draping herself across the back of an armchair, as if the appearance of a pint sized crime fighter were of no concern whatsoever to her.

"I'm Robin," Dick said proudly. "I'm Batman's partner."

"Are you?" she said, with a small smirk that made Dick feel a little put out for some reason. "Well, while you've done a wonderful job, I think you should run home and let the grown ups deal with this. Let Batman finish up, hmmm?"

As if summoned by her uttering his name, the double doors flung open to reveal the Dark Knight. Robin wondered how he managed to make it look so powerful and intimidating, while all he could manage was skepticism.

"Robin, stay behind me," Batman told him. Dick did as he said, wondering when and how Batman had already met the lady, that put the Caped Crusader on edge as soon as as he saw her.

"You know about him?" she asked Batman directly, the emotion in her voice sounding genuine for the first time, not the patronisingly sugar-coated tone she'd spoken to Robin with.

"Robin is my partner," Batman said. Dick noticed he spoke with the same tone that Bruce used whenever he had done something that he knew Alfred wouldn't really approve of, but was still stubbornly trying to insist he was right.

"You brought a child into _this_?"

"It's not your concern, Catwoman," Batman told her stiffly.

The wicked smirk was back after he said that. "You really can't think of any reason why a child following you round the _rooftops_ would affect _us_?"

Dick couldn't quite understand why she stressed the question in such a strange way. He also wondered why Batman seemed to be flushing slightly, and made a small choking noise. What on earth did Catwoman mean?

Batman seemed especially irritated when he next spoke. "The police are on their way, Catwoman, now return whatever you've already taken."

She seemed affronted by his order. "Did you think everyone's going to stop putting up a fight just because children are present?" she said scathingly, reaching behind her and grabbing something in her gloved hand.

She threw whatever she had retrieved straight at Dick's face. He heard Batman start to yell, and reach for Dick, to protect him from the threat, but he found himself clutching at air. Dick had already gotten himself clear of the danger, hand springing to the relative safety of Batman's other side. Dick checked to see what she had thrown, worried something was about to explode, or start pouring smoke to cover Catwoman's escape. He felt silly when he realised it was just a pen that she'd grabbed off the desk behind her.

Dick could feel his face reddening, embarrassed at his extreme reaction to a non-existent threat. Catwoman however was studying him intensely.

"Hmmm…" she drew out the noise, risking a quick glance at Batman, before returning to scrutinizing Robin. "Perhaps you will be able to keep up with him."

Robin felt offended that she had to wonder at all.

"But you won't be able to keep up with me," she taunted, before throwing herself out of an open window.

Dick rushed forward, scared for the lady, who seemed to have forgotten about the four story drop. Then he heard a loud crack, and saw her swing away to another building, which she began to scale with perfect ease and grace.

Dick turned to Batman, expecting him to give the order to give chase to the thief. However, he was surprised when Batman gave a slight shake of his head.

"Help the curator, Robin," Bruce said, nodding towards the curator, "then wait for me on the roof. I'll retrieve Catwoman and whatever she's stolen.

He set off straight away, leaving Dick behind to untie the poor woman. After Dick had reassured her that Batman would recover anything stolen, he went to wait on the roof as Batman had instructed. Batman took over half an hour to return; Dick was beside himself with worry, wanting to go after him, but unsure which direction to take.

But he did eventually return, carrying a small bag, of what Dick assumed was the stolen goods.

"Where's Catwoman?" Dick asked.

"She- got away," Bruce said gruffly.

"But you got the stuff back?" Dick pointed to the bag, feeling a little confused. "You must have caught her." Something strange was happening here.

"Yes well… How would you like some ice-cream when we get back, as a reward for doing so well?"

Batman's distraction worked on Robin, who became too focused on the important choice between chocolate and strawberry to worry about a few things that didn't make sense about a thief. Across town however, Selina Kyle was not so easily swayed from her concerns. Although she would not admit it until years after, that was the moment she declared herself the unofficial mother of Robin. She made her first job explaining to Batman that school nights were for sleeping, not fighting crime.


	2. Jason

Author's note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. Thank you for the lovely reviews, and to a-really-angry-sorceress for the beta, and all the support.

A shrill wolf whistle pierced the air.

"Nice shorts," a mocking voice called.

Jason looked over his shoulder, ready to fight. The tension bled out of him when he saw it was Catwoman. He hadn't talked to his predecessor much, but one of their brief conversations had included a warning from Dick about the weird set of morals Catwoman possessed, and how she did care for Batman and Robin in her own way.

Jason was confident she wouldn't start a fight before they'd been properly introduced.

"I don't have to take this from you," Jason retorted, finishing up zip tying unconscious thugs together.

"You do while you're wearing those," Catwoman reiterated, far too amused at her own joke. "So where's tall dark and brooding?"

"I can take care of you by myself." If Jason was perfectly honest, he wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to. If he tried to fight Catwoman, Bruce was sure to tell him off for being reckless, if he let her walk, Jason was sure he'd get into trouble for that. Either way, Jason was sure he'd finish the night by being reminded that he wasn't as good as the golden boy.

"Can you?" Selina purred, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup," Jason replied, kicking a thug who was starting to stir. He was not in the mood for games, especially as Batman could return at any minute.

"You need to lighten up a little, Robin. Especially if you're going to dress like that."

Jason's face started to flush red; he really wished she'd drop the subject. He felt a little ridiculous prancing around in shorts and pixie boots, but he was afraid to ask Bruce about changing his uniform.

Unfortunately, everyone Jason had been sent to stop was now out for the count and securely tied up. He had to decide what to do next. Jason took a good look at Selina, wondering if she'd let him just walk away, without causing a scene.

She was resting against a support pillar, looking casual and relaxed. She had a knowing smirk that made Jason feel even more self-conscious than he did just a moment earlier. He also noticed for the first time that she had a scarf tucked into the front of her catsuit. It looked suspiciously homemade: a lumpy knitted thing, dark purple, adorned with lopsided cross-stitch cats. At least he wasn't the only fashion disaster running across the roofs tonight.

She saw where he was looking, and the smirk widened into something that Jason would be more tempted to call a smile. "There's nothing wrong with dressing for the weather," she said, a little louder than the rest of their conversation had been. Jason started worry that she was trying to attract the attention of someone else she'd been working with.

"Selina."

Jason turned just in time to see Batman detach himself from a cluster of shadows. Catwoman must have seen him approaching, since it would be pretty difficult to miss six foot of Bat behind Jason's small frame. Sometimes, Jason really wished he had eyes in the back of his head.

"Hi handsome," she returned his greeting, shifting her posture to stand up straighter as Batman stalked towards her. If she was trying to square up to him, Jason thought the results fell comically short, quite literally. She was still almost six inches shorter than him. Oddly, it made him feel a little better about his own height.

"What are you doing here?"

Batman didn't seem to be in the mood to play along with her; Jason guessed that meant he would be getting the lecture on not apprehending her sooner.

"Yes, what am I doing out here, on such a _cold winter's night_?"

Jason heard the inflection in her voice, as tough as steel, and cold as ice. Not the vomit inducing flirting he had been warned he'd be forced to listen to, while Selina tried to wheedle herself out of trouble. He began to worry that her gentle teasing of him was going to end up causing an argument between him and Batman.

Batman's shoulders raised almost imperceptibly; a sign Jason was beginning to recognise meant he was being challenged and was most definitely not happy about it. The only other two times Jason had caught him doing that was when Superman had stopped by the Cave to talk about cases, and Jason may have been a little too impressed by the hero of Metropolis, and when Wonder Woman had threatened to abuse the power of the lasso to force Batman to play a game of truth or dare at Superman's birthday party. It was a little odd to see Batman feel so threatened by a relatively sane and non-lethal member of his rogues gallery.

"I guess I'm just sightseeing. It's a little chilly though, perhaps a bit of exercise would help warm us up."

Jason thought that was going to be the point at which the disgusting, thinly veiled innuendos would start. The conversation turned in a way that took him completely by surprise.

"Don't you think, Robin?"

In for a penny, in for a pound.

"Seems like a good idea."

Catwoman gave him another little surprise when she started doing a ballet routine that Jason was pretty sure he recognised from a performance of the Nutcracker that Bruce had been invited to, and he'd been allowed to tag along to. He did his best to follow Selena's lead, still not quite sure where she was heading with this, but she was impossible to match. She threw herself into impossible leaps and pirouettes with complete grace, and form that Jason thought would have earned her a place in the Bolshoi. After an arabesque that nearly ended with her kicking the back of her head though, Jason began to see the point.

"It's so nice to be able to move so freely, but still keep warm in my new suit. A _tri-polymer blend_ also offers _plenty of protection_ ," Catwoman said, once she had both feet on the ground again. The hard edge was back to her voice, and she kept unblinking eye contact with Batman, as she took two steps back from him. Then, before Jason registered what she'd done, she pulled her scarf over her head, pushed it down over his, and took off running into the same shadows Batman had emerged from.

It was very soft.

Batman didn't make a move to chase Catwoman, and that night Jason did not receive the lecture he was expecting. A few days later, he received something he wasn't.

Bruce had asked Jason to report to the cave for yet more training, but when Jason was making his way over to the crash mats, he found a hand on his shoulder holding him back.

"Mr. Freeze has escaped from Arkham," Bruce told Jason. It was definitely not news to Jason, there had been non stop news coverage about it for the last two weeks. "I thought as Gotham is in danger of hitting a cold spell, these were a good idea."

Batman handed Jason a neatly folded new uniform, that Jason just knew was going to have long pants, most likely made from the tri-polymer blend Catwoman had so purposely emphasised. Jason was tempted to mock his flimsy excuse, but he knew how hard it was for Bruce to deal with emotional situations, and getting rid of the Golden Boy's old costume definitely came under that column. So instead gave Bruce a quick hug, before heading off to try out his new costume.

Shortly after, a lumpy mass of purple found it's way into the souvenir cabinet that was in the shadow of the giant penny, carefully placed next to a magical pendant entrusted to them by Zatanna, and propping up a fragment of Deathstroke's two-tone mask.

For months afterwards, Jason would take it out of the cabinet, and snuggle into it whenever he was feeling nostalgic for the simpler days of his childhood; the faint scent of Catwoman's perfume tugging at an early memory of his mother that he could never quite recall properly, but that still helped to bury the memory of finding her cold and unmoving, with a needle sticking out of her arm.

Batman pretended not to have noticed the new addition to his collection, although he did suddenly decide to ask Alfred to move the amulet to a more secure case.

Less than two years later, Bruce would be crying into that scarf, trying to draw some of the same comfort and consolation from it that he knew his late son had.


	3. Tim

Author's note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. Thanks to a-really-angry-sorceress, and to everyone who followed and favourited.

"Auugh!" the squeak echoed through the vents.

The two costumed lovers broke apart from their embrace immediately at the noise, Batman hunching in on himself, and Selina stretching out, getting comfortable enough to enjoy the show.

"So you have got another; you really are terrible for bringing home strays," Selina commented with a hint of annoyance. Tim blushed as he thought it was directed at him for interrupting, Bruce winced as he knew it was aimed at him for bringing another kid into their world. Selina took an odd interest in his Robin's, she became like a surrogate mother to Dick and even Jason eventually; at least when they weren't trying to stop her stealing. She had been furious when she heard the news of Jason's death. She had visited Dick in Bludhaven so he would have someone to talk to when he and Bruce were still not on the best of terms, and forced the two to start talking again when she could see how much they were both hurting.

"Umm, sorry," the vents called softly.

"Well, you're very politely spoken, considering you're trying to rob a girl of the fruits of her labours. Why don't you come out here and let me look at you?"

When Batman didn't object, Tim slid carefully from his revealed hiding place, and walked up to his mentor's side. He wasn't overly fond of the way she glared at him with intense concentration; it made him feel acutely aware of all of his faults and shortcomings. Fortunately, her appraisal of him only took a few moments.

"They keep getting smaller," she said to Batman, venom tainting her voice.

Tim felt himself deflate; although logically he knew he could use his small height to his advantage while fighting, he still felt inferior somehow. Standing next to Batman, while a thief mocked him was doing nothing to help boost his confidence.

Batman knew why Selina's voice was so sour, and took the blow as it was intended. Although Tim wasn't actually any younger than Jason when he started as Robin, he was so much smaller, and looked that much more breakable for it. It was a fact he was acutely aware of, every time Tim was out of his sight for even a single second, but hearing Selina point it out somehow managed to bring on an even bigger wave of guilt and worry. He wanted to scream and shout, and send Tim back home to safety, and… and he wanted to tell Jason how sorry he was.

Tim was blissfully unaware of the macabre thoughts running through his mentors head, instead his mind was occupied with wondering exactly what Catwoman was doing in a warehouse by the docks. There didn't seem to be anything in the building she'd think was worth stealing, and surely Batman wouldn't have arranged to meet up with his sometimes lover on a patrol night when he knew Tim would be around. In fact, it seemed very odd that Catwoman would be here; there'd been a large gang related disturbance at the docks, surely she must have known that Batman would feel the need to intervene.

"So how are you liking your new job?" Selina asked him, watching his face intensely again.

It finally occurred to Tim that she had known that Batman would be in the area.

"I'm fine," he snapped, a little more forcefully than he normally would have done. Civilians worrying about Robin was nothing new, and something that came with the job, but people deliberately reminding Bruce of Jason's death, and making him feel even more guilt over it- Well, that was a touchy subject, even for Tim.

Catwoman didn't seem quite convinced that his knee jerk reaction was the whole truth. She sauntered across to Tim and bent down to whisper something in his ear so softly he almost didn't catch it. "It's okay to be not okay."

"Come visit me sometime Robin; the menacing aura can leave you wanting to escape," Selina straightened up, and made Tim the offer loud enough for Batman to hear too, with just a hint of sharpness that left Batman cringing, and Tim wondering if he really was welcome to visit her or not as she walked away, her heels clicking with conviction.

A minute later Batman jumped slightly, Tim knew that he was just coming back to his senses after a downward spiral of blaming himself for what happened to Jason. "She still had the USB," he said suddenly, darting off in the direction that Selina had made her not so great escape. He still looked back straight away to make sure Tim was following behind him.


	4. Damian

Authors note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. Thank you to a-really-angry-sorceress, you should all go check out her stuff. And I think I'm changing my update day to Saturday permanently for this. Please let me know what you think so far.

Unlike Dick, Damian was not worried for Batman's safety. His mother had sent Damian to learn from him; if he was better than any of the mentors the League of Shadows could provide, a simple thief was no threat to him. Nor did he have Jason's need to act out and cause a scene, that would have been far too childish. He certainly didn't repeat Tim's clumsy interruption; he was far more skilled than that.

Damian would have deemed the whole sordid affair as beneath him, and simply ignored it, until it occurred to him that Catwoman was infringing on his mother's claim. Whereas he had no doubts that his mother could have killed the other woman if she had been bothered by her attempts to seduce Damian's father, after it continued for months he began to wonder if his mother wished him to fix the problem, as he was already in Gotham.

So Damian decided to pay Catwoman a visit, alone, when he knew his father was away at Watchtower for a meeting. It was simple to bypass the security and enter her flat.

Damian admitted to himself that the thief had a nice home. Nowhere near as big as his father's of course, but the items it was furnished with forced him to take back his assumptions that Kyle was merely interested in his father for his power and wealth. It seemed she was competent enough at her chosen field to not actually _need_ him.

It made Damian briefly wonder if she actually did _want_ his father.

"Hello, Robin," a voice behind purred him. "I don't remember inviting you here."

Damian turned to face her, slowly, so the thief wouldn't think she had managed to sneak up on him.

"Your substandard security was all the invitation I needed, Kyle," Damian told her condescendingly. He was not normally one to converse with his targets, but she was talking, rather than attacking him, and he had broken into her home, so he supposed it was only courteous to answer her benign chatter.

"That's usually my line," Catwoman purred, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

Damian would never admit to anyone that he actually wanted to meet the woman Grayson referred to as the Bat-family's mother properly. Just once, before he dealt with her, of course.

"Not anymore." Damian drew a knife he had strapped under his shoulder-blade, hidden by his cape. To his chagrin, Kyle merely laughed at him.

"Your mother doesn't need you to defend her honour, Damian."

Damian felt confused and angry. Surely his father wouldn't have been foolish enough to reveal his identity to a petty criminal, and give her such power over them. .

Apparently, his face betrayed his thoughts as Catwoman laughed at him again. "Talia and I do talk, you know. And every parent needs a babysitter at some point."

It worried him that his intentions and fears were so clear to this woman; apparently he needed practice schooling his expression into a mask devoid of emotion; his mother would be ashamed if she ever heard of his lapse in form. Fortunately, Kyle wouldn't be around to gossip much longer.

Damian was sure she must be lying about how she knew his mother anyway, in an attempt to stall him. There was no way her mother would ever willingly waste her time with this upstart, let alone entrust the only true Wayne heir's safety to her.

He sprang suddenly, knife raised, aiming for her stomach. He didn't want to kill her quite yet; she had to admit she was lying first.

Much to his surprise, and his annoyance, Catwoman proved herself to be completely ready for him. She sidestepped Robin, and threw him onto the sofa. But as Robin was preparing to attack again, he suddenly found himself being choked.

Robin peeled the enraged cat off of his face, wincing a little while he pulled the claws out. But when he made to fling the pest away from him, Catwoman suddenly had a whip, and he had no knife.

"You're not going to hurt my cats," Selina ordered him. Damian felt an urge to aim a kick at the little ball of mange; she had no right to tell him what to do.

Kyle must have noticed his expression, but instead of getting angry, she merely sighed. "You're not very good with animals are you?"

Damian didn't like to think there was anything he wasn't good at, but… "Mother always said pets are a waste of time that invite weakness."

Selina scooped up another cat that was circling her feet - a tiny black ball of fluff - and then handed it to him gently. "This is Sky. She's friendlier."

Damian scoffed, but then glanced down at the tiny feline in his arms when he felt her tail brush against his arm. She was incredibly fluffy, and her tiny face burying into Damian's elbow gave him a very strange feeling he wasn't used to.

Damian realised he actually liked this animal. Two seconds of holding a useless ball of fur, and he was already in love with it. At least he finally understood what his mother meant by weakness.

When Damian left the apartment half an hour later, cat fur clinging to every inch of his suit he had to admit that he may have been missing out on something. It appeared he had been a little hasty in his initial assessment of Kyle; she was a wonderful woman, who made surprisingly authentic jasmine tea. Damian wondered when his father would next be occupied, so he could come back to visit the cats. Perhaps he could approach his father about adopting just one small animal. Possibly two.


	5. Barbara

Author's note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. Sorry for missing a week, but I had some coursework to do. Thanks to a-really-angry-sorceress for the beta, and to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. I only have chapters written for Steph and Cass at the moment, and I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo which is going to keep me busy, but after that I will get to work on writing the other characters you guys have asked for.

Barbara was enjoying the first patrol Batman had let her and Dick take without _adult supervision_. They had come to rest on top of a church building, and were sat at the edge of the roof; she was looking intently at her swinging her legs, while out of the corner of her eye she could see Dick's hand edging towards hers. She wondered idly if he'd work up the courage to actually take it this time.

"Well don't you two look sweet," crooned a woman behind them.

Barbara jumped: as far as she was concerned, any voice that wasn't deep and gravelly belonged to a threat while she was patrolling the roofs with Robin. He, however, didn't even bother to look around while he made the introductions.

"Batgirl, Catwoman. Catwoman, Batgirl."

Barbara craned her neck around, to catch a glimpse of the elusive master thief. She didn't have to strain herself for long though, as Catwoman walked over to the two young crimefighters, and sat down in the middle of them.

"So what are you kids up to?" she asked, smirking at Robin.

"Nothing," Robin muttered, a little sullenly. Barbara was starting to think Robin might not have fully grasped what was going on; Gotham's worst offending kleptomaniac had just sat in between two of its vigilante's, and they were doing nothing about it. However, it was Catwoman who caught her intense look to him first.

She laughed when she noticed, but Barbara thought it was good natured, out of genuine amusement. "I'm just window shopping tonight," she said.

Barbara was a little unsure what difference that made, seen as though she had essentially just confessed to planning to commit a crime in the near future. Then it was Dick's turn to laugh.

"Catwoman is the Bat-mum," he said. "We only really fight if we catch her in the middle of a crime."

That sounded a lot like favouritism to Barbara, seen as though Robin had thrown a Birdarang at the Penguin yesterday, for the crime of leaving the Iceberg lounge while wearing an offensively tall hat.

"I am far too young to be a mother," Catwoman insisted, "and I am most definitely not a bat."

Robin leaned into Catwoman's side, and she reflexively put her arm around him. For all she denied it, they seemed close and comfortable enough for Robin to think of her as his mother.

Barbara had the sudden thought that if that were true, Catwoman must have heard all about Robin's little crush on her. She had to fight back the urge to snort at Catwoman's awkward attempt at squeezing herself in between the two of them. Catwoman was embarrassing Robin at a level only a parent could achieve; crashing their alone time was something that even Batman wasn't nosey enough to do.

At least she thought Batman wasn't keeping track of them, she hadn't actually had chance to do a comprehensive sweep for bugs.

"So, have I gained another child?" Catwoman asked, giving Robin a playful jab in the side, making him yelp.

"Batgirl doesn't need a mother, she's far too mature," Robin boasted on her behalf.

Catwoman sighed and ruffled his hair before she got to her feet. "Well I should make myself scarce before Tall, Dark, and Pointy makes an appearance," she said, before she took off running into the night.

Barbara settled the knowledge that she shouldn't go out of her way to fight Catwoman into her mind, and carried on as before. However, she started to notice she had a shadow over the next few weeks. The next time she and Robin were alone, she bent down to pretend to tie her shoelace, and told Robin that she'd catch him up. As soon as he was out of earshot she called out to her tail. "You can come out now."

Catwoman slipped out of the shadows, with skill that would have made Batman jealous. "You work very hard," was how Catwoman greeted her.

"Thank you?" Barbara said uncertainly.

"But you don't have to be completely 'mature' at your age," she continued. "You don't have to feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders; leave that kind of emotional constipation to Batman."

Barbara snorted at Catwoman's pep talk, and blushed a little.

"If I am going to be a mother, I think I want a daughter too. Make sure you tell me if Batman is being completely oblivious to you being a teenage girl."

Batgirl wanted to ask her what exactly she meant by that, but then Catwoman told her that that was probably as long as she could pretend to be tying a shoelace for.

Less than a week later, Barbara sent Catwoman in to explain to Bruce why at some time during the month, Barbara might need a few nights off. The next time they ran into each other on patrol, Selina gave her pictures of how embarrassed and horrified Bruce's face had turned throughout the course of their conversation.

That was the start of Barbara's tradition of keeping blackmail on every member of the family.


	6. Stephanie

Author's note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. Thank you to a-really-angry-sorceress for the beta, and for all the interest you guys have shown.

Spoiler was fleeing from Robin, trying desperately to outrun him. Her mask was slipping from her face, and she could not let him see her face. She just knew that if he got a decent glimpse of her she'd be answering her front door to him the next day.

Stephanie landed a jump onto a long flat roof, and risked looking back over her shoulder, without breaking her stride, to make sure that Robin was still nowhere near her. She was so occupied with looking backwards, that she didn't notice what she was running into.

"Ooooph."

As Steph had reached the edge of the roof, someone else had pulled themself up, and run straight into her. Fortunately neither of them had gone barreling over the edge.

As Steph was looking round for a brick to hit Robin over the head with again, she noticed the distinct lack of bright colours assaulting her peripheral vision. Panic briefly overtook logic, and for one heart stopping moment Steph actually thought she'd just rugby tackled Batman. She swiveled her head, ready to make her apologies before resuming running away, and saw that it was actually Catwoman she had accidentally wrestled to the ground.

The seasoned thief looked severely offended by the collision; Steph had to bite her tongue to stop herself automatically insisting that it was Catwoman who should watch where she was going.

The two stared at each other for a long moment; Steph wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation. She had made up her mind to just keep on running, when Catwoman tilted her head to one side, confusion replacing the look of mild distaste.

"Aren't you Cluem-"

"Don't say his name!" Stephanie shouted a little louder than she meant to. She glanced back at the direction she had come from, where there was still no sign of Robin, but that didn't mean he wasn't around here somewhere. She did not need a vague one time work acquaintance of her father's blurting out her most closely guarded secret.

Then she realised, this wasn't just about Robin not overhearing Catwoman's surprised exclamation, the master thief had actually recognised her. At the very best she was getting blackmailed, at the very worst, she was getting sold out to her father. Steph's mind started running through all the possibilities of how she could get out of this with her kneecaps intact. Most of them involved burning off her fingerprints, and leaving Gotham, before Catwoman had the chance to tell her father what his beloved daughter had been getting up to on a night.

Selina must have noticed her rabbit in the headlights look, but misinterpreted it. "Is the dynamic duo not far behind?" she asked, looking in the direction Steph had glanced down.

She nodded, momentarily forgetting how to speak.

Catwoman stood up gracefully, and considered Spoiler carefully. "Follow me," she ordered.

Steph wondered if this was the start of the extortion.

She followed Catwoman over the edge of the building, onto the fire escape, and down to street level. Catwoman picked her way through a maze of back alleys at a slow jog. Steph suspected she was slowing down for her benefit, but wasn't too proud to refuse a chance to get her breath back.

After getting Steph thoroughly lost, Catwoman took another fire escape up to the rooftops. Steph found her bearings once she had an aerial view, and realised Catwoman had managed to get them to the part of town worryingly close to Steph's own house. Spoiler's breathe started to come in shorter, and faster bursts, only this time it had nothing to do with Steph tiring herself out.

But then Catwoman turned in the wrong direction for Steph's house, instead starting to climb the wall of a small block of flats. She managed this with practised ease; Steph could see scratches in the cement from Catwoman's claws. Steph wondered if Catwoman had brought her to her actual home.

When she reached the balcony of the penthouse, Catwoman looked back down at Steph. She took that to mean she should start climbing.

It took Spoiler a little longer to reach the top than Catwoman did; Steph became very self conscious the longer she felt the older woman's eyes on her. When she made it on to the balcony, she had to forcefully stop herself from fidgeting to discharge all her nervous energy.

"Shoes off if you can," she ordered, turning her back on Steph, to open the huge glass doors into the apartment. Catwoman pulled up a chair from the breakfast nook, and set to work unlacing her own boots. Steph awkwardly hovered in the doorway as she tried to pull her heavy boots off, before she admitted defeat, and took them off properly, balancing on one leg while she struggled to undo her own knots.

Catwoman padded over to the door and closed it. She then turned round to face her young guest. "Soooo… Stephanie, wasn't it?"

Steph nodded, while she wondered if crashing through the door, and jumping over the balcony to freedom would be considered too overdramatic.

"Well, I'm Selina," she said, as she removed her mask, and shook out her hair. "Would you like some tea?"

Steph nodded, before she processed how stupid it was to accept anything from her that she'd have to eat or drink. She watched Selina like a hawk the entire time, and although nothing seemed obviously wrong, resolved not to take a sip of her tea until Selina had hers.

Selina carried the mugs over to the coffee table in her living room area, and settled into an armchair, tucking her feet to the side, and shifting a little until she got comfortable. Steph followed her over, and sat on the very edge of the couch, worried that she was going to stain the pale, expensive looking material with the Gotham smog and filth that seemed to stick to her suit no matter how careful she was to keep it clean.

She glanced at Selina's bare face, before pushing her smashed goggles up, and pulling the rest of her mask down.

Selina reached for her tea at that point, taking a large gulp without slurping at all. Steph found herself feeling a little envious of Catwoman's flawless poise, but at least it meant that the tea was okay to drink.

Steph tried the tiniest sip possible, and then told herself to wait a while, just in case. This was a tense enough tea party to give the Mad Hatter a run for his money.

"Anything you'd like to get off your chest?" Selina asked, before she blew on her tea to cool it. She was the picture of nonchalance, and it made Steph instantly suspicious.

"I think everything is pretty self-evident." Steph gestured to her outfit; she wasn't going to verbally admit anything.

Catwoman sighed, and set her cup back down on the table. "I understand that you can't have a perfect relationship with your father, but are you sure you aren't getting in over your head?"

Now Steph was angry; blackmail was fair enough, but she did not get to lecture her.

"You can't make me stop," Steph hissed.

"I know," Catwoman said. For one small moment, Steph saw the first crack in Catwoman's flawless facade. Her face crumpled ever so slightly, in a manner of someone who was trying to force back a tear. "They never want to stop, and then it's too late," she added much more quietly. Steph wondered if she was talking to herself. "But the point is, dealing vigilante justice to your own father isn't going to end well, one way or another."

"I don't see you telling Batman to stop picking up Robin's," the Spoiler said scathingly, forgetting herself, and taking another sip of her tea afterwards.

"That's the thing dear, all the Robins' have Batman to look after them. Your father isn't watching your back for you, is he?" Selina asked pointedly. Steph recoiled a little at that, and suddenly it wasn't Selina who was having to blink back tears.

Steph had always been an angry crier.

"I'm going to stop him," she vowed, with a witness to hear her for the first time, "even if it kills me."

Selina looked down into her tea, and remained silent for a few minutes. Steph felt very uncomfortable and intrusive, she was itching to get up and walk out the door while Selina was busy contemplating the mysteries of the universe while frowning at her tea.

Eventually, Stephanie began to fidget, which drew Selina's attention. She looked up, and then sprang from her seat, making Steph jump. "Well, I suppose you should be getting on your way before you're missed."

Steph found herself shooed out of Catwoman's apartment rather quickly; only when the door was shut behind her did Steph realise she was still holding Selina's mug. She turned round, and was going to give it back, and saw that Selina was calling someone on her cell phone. Steph dropped the mug, barely registering the noise when it shattered. Spoiler pulled her mask into place, and set off running for her house as fast as she could. She had to get home, and change into her civies urgently. She felt especially offended that Catwoman hadn't even waited for her to leave the premises before making the call that was going to get her killed.

Steph made it home, but Cluemaster never came to call. She was still spooked though, she hid her Spoiler costume, and for weeks didn't dare go to retrieve it. Eventually then, when nothing terrible happened to her for nearly a month, Steph struggled to convince herself that she couldn't go on being scared of shadows for the rest of her life.

That was when the strange things started happening.

The next time Stephanie went out as Spoiler, Robin seemed relieved to see her. He gave her a hug from behind that nearly prompted Spoiler to break his nose, and said he was happy to see her again. Steph was almost happy when they resumed their usual game of cat and mouse.

Then came the time when Steph had gotten herself into a little bit of a tight corner when she had accidentally wandered into a gang controlled area. At the last minute it was Batman who swooped in to save her. Steph had tried to run for it of course - a fight with Batman was definitely not something she wanted - but Batman had caught her. Steph assumed this was going to be the end of her pitifully short vigilante career, but instead Batman had passed her a folded up piece of paper from one of the pockets on his belt, and grimly told her to be careful, before disappearing into the night. When Steph looked opened it up, she found it was a map of Gotham, colour coded to show the worst danger zones. There was a key on the side, that included a little bat. Steph saw that the bat was on top of the Gotham Clock Tower. The information at the side of the bat on the key said : "Secondary Bat-signal - flash S.O.S in case of emergencies."

Spoiler only connected the dots when a few days later she saw Catwoman and Batman _together_ on a rooftop. Steph realised that Catwoman must have been calling Batman to vouch for her.

The next time Selina climbed onto her balcony, she found Spoiler waiting outside her door. Catwoman earned a new grumpy cat mug, and a crisp high five for her ministrations.


	7. Cass

Author's note: Disclaimer - I own nothing. Nano is finished so I'm back to bother you. Thanks to a-really-angry-sorceress who put a lot of work into this one.

Catwoman's hand was outstretched, mere inches away from a priceless diamond necklace that was on display at the Gotham City Museum. Cass was glad that she had gone on ahead of Nightwing, as she had only gotten here in the nick of time as it was, and to have waited for him would have meant arriving too late.

Catwoman hadn't noticed Black Bat approaching her from behind. Cass had every possible advantage over the thief. Her training told her to strike now, and strike to kill, before her enemy ever knew she was there. And yet...

"Mother?"

Cass was proud at how well her voice carried across the room, sounding exactly like she had wanted it to in her head. Barbara's oratory lessons were definitely paying off. Catwoman spun round; Cass had clearly startled her, but she relaxed when she saw the Bat logo emblazoned across Cass's chest.

"I've heard rumours about you," Catwoman purred at her. "They say you're a spectre that Batman is forcing to appear and fight evil, before being allowed to return to hell to lick your wounds."

"No one force me," Cass insisted. Barbara would have probably laughed, and said she was being stubborn and sullen, if she had heard her tone. But Cass wasn't sure what Catwoman knew, and if she was making fun of her.

Selina Kyle merely tilted her head, looking a little concerned at what Cassandra had just said. Just like every time she spoke, Cass couldn't help but feel like she'd said too much.

"I can tell that; you're the only one so far who's managed to avoid the traffic light colour scheme," Catwoman said.

Cass wasn't quite sure what to make of Catwoman, but she knew everyone else in the family liked her most of the time. Cass had been told by Oracle that they only fought her when Selina had stolen something; technically, at the current moment, she hadn't. Cass thought she might wait for Nightwing to get here, to see what he would say.

"What's your favourite colour?" Catwoman asked suddenly. Cass only shook her head in response.

"Mine's green," Catwoman told Cass. "Star-sign?"

Cass had to shake her head again.

"Come on. What month were you born in?"

Another little shake.

"I can tell you your horoscope. Someone very important to me is going to drop into my life soon; don't you want to know what the universe has got in-store for you? You might not have a favourite colour, but you have to have a star-sign."

Cass changed her answer to a shrug, hoping Catwoman would assume she just didn't want to answer her questions. Unfortunately, she proved a little more intuitive than that.

"So you don't know," Selina said, looking a little moved. "Well why don't you choose one?" she suggested. "How about today, there's no time like the present."

Catwoman moved in for the slowest hug Cass had ever received, spreading her arms wide in advance to show clearly she wasn't armed. As her black clad arms wrapped around the younger woman, Cass thought she now knew what Red Hood meant when he said that Catwoman's hugs feel like Alfred's cooking tastes like.

When Selina moved away, there was still a slight pressure on Cass's collar bone. She looked down and saw Selina had placed the priceless necklace around her neck, without Cass and her legendary senses even noticing. Cass wasn't even sure when the thief had taken it from its case.

"Happy birthday," Catwoman told her, before leaving the museum empty handed. Cass let her go without remorse, a little smile gracing her face.

The necklace was back on the pedestal by the time Nightwing got to the museum, but the smile was still on Cass's face.

"Mother," Cass said, when he looked quizzically at her expression.

Dick instantly jumped to the wrong conclusion, and started to panic. "Lady Shiva was- What did?-"

"Mother," Cass repeated, a little louder. Dick finally listened to her, took notice of where they were, and realised what she meant.

"Ooooh. So you like her then?" Dick asked, as they exited the museum together, careful to avoid tripping the security systems.

Cass nodded, and her smile reappeared. Dick's jaw dropped in shock.

"Hey! I'm still your favourite right?" Dick asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Cass nodded, mainly because she sensed that was what Dick wanted. It earned her a hug from him.

On the way home Cass wondered how many hugs she could get for it being her birthday.


End file.
